The Most Foolish Traveler in The World
by candelight
Summary: Turtle Tot fiction! Raph just can’t understand WHY Leo would spend all that he had for Raph’s birthday gift. Splinter reminds him of an old tale.


The Most Foolish Traveler in the World

Turtle Tot fiction! Raph just can't understand WHY Leo would spend all that he had for Raph's birthday gift. Splinter reminds him of an old tale.

Hallo, everyone!

Since tomorrow begins a new school term….sigh. Better get cracking with those updates.

Everyone…you may notice me disappearing a lot now-especially on weekends. Sorry….:( it's kinda my new lifestyle now. I can be on the internet, but the computer won't let me update, so….

Once again, very sorry.

_Quote:_

_"Ethics cannot be based upon our obligations toward [people], but they are complete and natural only when we feel this Reverence for Life and the desire to have compassion for and to help all creatures insofar as it is in our power. I think that this ethic will become more and more recognized because of its great naturalness and because it is the foundation of a true humanism toward which we must strive if our culture is to become truly ethical._

_Reverence for Life affords me my fundamental principle of morality, namely, that good consists in maintaining, assisting, and enhancing life and that to destroy, harm, or to hinder life is evil. Affirmation of the world -- that is affirmation of the will to live, which appears in phenomenal forms all around me -- is only possible for me in that I give myself out for other life."_

The turtle drew back with a sigh, sinking the old paintbrush onto the easel with a frown and an irritated sigh.

He had MEANT to paint a French Villa with purple irises growing near a pond where a duck had been fluttering upon, little riplets drawing in tiny circles from the violet-blue water as the sun sank over the horizon, leaving the soft sky slightly dotted with stars….

But, as Mikey put it, it looked rather like a squashed hippo.

Raphael SANZIO wouldn't have had this problem!

The turtle groaned, and leapt onto his bed with a slight THUNK, avoiding the shiny parcel next to his pillow, both with body and eyes.

It was getting late. Soon enough, Splinter would wind up readying them all for bedtime.

Which meant BATHTIME. Raphael shuddered, and glanced at the nearby clock.

Crud. Twenty minutes to go. And rats are VERY punctual.

The turtle sank his head on the pillow and paused for a moment, contemplating the best ways to spend the free time he had left.

It stunk. Really and for truly stunk.

And not just that tuna casserole Splinter insisted they try. Only Donny had wound up liking it….

….needless to say, he wound up with a lot on his plate from eager "donors."

Today, after training (which consisted of yoga maneuvering and learning how to adapt in the Darkness) Raph had spent much of his time sulking in his room. The others were busy doing whatnot-Donny was playing jacks, trying to beat his best time, Mikey was busy making a figure out of tinfoil, and Leo was cutting pictures out of old magazines to make a collage, while Splinter began his repairs on an old, cracked teapot.

But Raph's mind had been buzzing till it ached today. He paced back and forth, muttering and occasionally, growling under his breath.

It was just too weird to even try and make out.

* * * * * * *

Yesterday-July Seventh-had been Raph's birthday. Naturally, the self proclaimed seven year old was ecstatic on his special day-what with the cake and activites.

Plus, the presents.

Kinda hard to forget those, in Raph's book.

Mikey had given him a makeshift slingshot (Didn't seem very wise to give Raph anything that could be used as a weapon, but this is Mikey we're talking about.) The turtle was touched, seeing as he had given Mikey that pink tea set for his birthday….

But Mikey had been flattered for the new "building blocks", even if they WERE a sickly pink color.

….and had little daisies on them.

Ah, well. Raph had some lovely rocks perfect for the job.

Don had given him the recovered easel and paints-along with an old box of paints. Some of them slightly crumbly, but water would do the trick.

And, to his delight, Splinter had proudly updated his weapons. The turtle had felt like singing as he swung them around, narrowly avoiding tossing them in the air as his family members dove for cover.

Raph's plastic had been updated to wood over time-and now, to real-REAL metal!

….they weren't very sharp-like butter knives, actually-but before Splinter had uttered a shaking laugh and mentioned that they, perhaps, might wish to wait for training, Leo had presented his gift.

It was oddly shapen-and somewhat lumpy. Raph heaved the heavy parcel on his lap, looking uncertain.

"Go on-open it!"

Leo seemed very excited-face alight with eagerness as he leaned forwards.

Splinter limped up from behind Raphael, leaning upon his old staff with a small smile.

"Do not prolong his discomfort, my son. Simply open it."

And so, Raphael's slow fingers unraveled the slightly crumpled paper.

And, as more and more of it became revealed, his fingers went faster as they practically tore the paper apart, their recipient's heart pounding wildly.

It couldn't be.

But it was.

With trembling hands-mindful not to grip more tightly then he already was, seeing as this must be a dream of all sorts-he lifted the gleaming, polished red metal with awe.

It was real.

The glossy paint and lightning bolt of the material was telling him so.

A real, for true and real-Class Action Z helmet. Incredibly awesome-his favorite team wore them at important gameplays, incredibly cool, incredibly REAL, incredibly expensive,

….and incredibly, his.

Raph tried to open his mouth, failed, and tried again.

Still failed.

To his shame, his eyes were swimming with emotion. He had wanted a helmet like this since he was three years old!

Still, he bent his head in embarrassment. Mikey would NEVER let him live it down if he burst into tears over a BIRTHDAY gift.

Finally, in the silence, he spoke.

"….L-Leo?"

The turtle now looked slightly concerned, as if afraid Raph hadn't been so crazy for the helmet after all.

"Yeah, bro?"

Raph finally found his voice.

"Th-Thanks. Thank you."

And then, he recovered slightly.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he cheered, making everyone jump.

"I own a class action Z! I OWN A CLASS ACTION Z!"

In pure euphoria, Raph quickly snapped the helmet on, quickly doing the straps underneath his chin.

It fit perfectly. The turtle closed his eyes, before a grin spread across his face.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Leo just smiled, face bashful.

"Kinda hoped you'd like it."

The turtle had no more then a second or so before Raph had dashed off to the nearby window, turning his head critically.

"Wow…signature BOLT and everything! And there's the serial number! Sweet, sweet, sweeeeeeeeeet! And my own certificate?!"

The turtle clutched the precious paper to his chest, eyes now sparkling as he turned to the others.

"Where did you guys FIND this?! A brand new one? I-"

Splinter cleared his throat.

"Well….I was rather against the risk….but we did not "find" it, as is the conventional thing we do with objects in the sewer, my son," the rat said gently, putting a hand over his eyes for a moment or so, blinking.

Raph just stared at him, completely lost.

"I mean to say my son, that Leonardo bought it with his savings. Well-I went in and purchased it-Leonardo simply gave me the currency."

Raph simply turned around, mouth dropped.

To his surprise, he felt his soaring spirits begin to sink.

---

Raph twisted about, burying his face in his arms.

A whimper tore from his lips.

He wasn't stupid.

Things cost money.

Like a fancy, overpriced helmet.

Well, there was only option. Tomorrow, he would go right down to Master Splinter and ask him to simply take the thing ba-

A hand found his shoulder. The turtle started violently, heart pounding as he whipped around.

He managed a sigh of relief.

Master Splinter was gazing at him, benign smile on his face.

"My son, do you mind if I…?"

The turtle shook his head vigorously.

"Nah. No, no. You just kinda surprised me, Sensei."

The rat smiled again as he sank down beside the turtle, and picked up the glossy metal. Raph flinched slightly.

"My son, you have been in here all day. Is something amiss…?"

The turtle shook his head vigorously, but made no fight as the rat pulled Raph onto his lap.

"This is quite a lovely helmet," the rat commented, turning the helmet just so as it glinted in the dim candlelight.

"I am surprised you are not wearing it, my son. Is it the wrong color? The wrong type, perhaps?"

Raph fidgeted, staring at his hands. He did not answer. Splinter raised an eyebrow slightly.

"My son?"

Finally, Raph burst out in an angry chorus.

"WHY?!"

The rat fell silent as Raph wrenched around to face him, eyes wide and imploring.

"Why, though?! Why'd Leo DO that?!"

Splinter opened his mouth, but Raph was on a roll.

"Money's TIGHT round here! Leo's been saving change he's found for months, now! MONTHS! And he was gonna buy a-"

"Going to, my son."

"-going to, then-get that new book _Empire_! He's been wantin' it since it came out-and then he blows all his cash right….right…"

Dejected, he hung his head, and bit his lip.

"I always wanted something like this for me," he said with a weary sigh, feeling a lump rise to his throat to join the other.

"But you're gon-er, going to have to take it back. It's not fair if Leo doesn't ge-"

To his surprise, the rat said nothing, but crushed Raph to him gently.

"Oh, little one." He sighed, the puff of warm breath passing Raphael's shoulder slightly.

"Empathy for other people is nothing to be ashamed of."

Raph sniffed, but said nothing.

The rat hesitated, then sighed again.

"Perhaps, my son, there is a tale you should know of….

"Once upon a time, there was a foolish traveler who had gone on a journey to seek his fortune."

A pause.

"Why was he foolish, you ask? Well, because he was fooled by everyone he met!"

Raph turned to face him, eyes slightly red. But Splinter's eyes were distant, and far away.

"Everywhere he went, people made up all kinds of sad stories to tell him, and the traveler

fell for every one of them. Whether it was about a sick sister, a missing animal, or the

inability to purchase seeds for their fields.

Very soon, his money, his clothes, even his _shoes_ had been cheated away from him.

The rat slowly shook his head.

"However, the foolish traveler was always glad to help. For everyone he aided, he'd

smile and simply state, "I wish you happiness."

Raph scowled.

"But, if they were cheating-?!"

The rat shook his head, and Raph fell silent.

but by this point, the traveler, had nothing left to his name, and with nothing left to cover

himself, he decided to leave the main road and travel through the dense forest, where no

one could see him.

Soon, he was discovered by the goblins that lived in the woods.

The goblins wanted to eat the traveler's body, so they begged and pleaded, and used kind

words to try and trick him…"

The turtle rapidly shook his head, mouth dropping.

"He….He didn't say "Yes," did he?"

Splinter rocked back and forth from where he sat on the bed.

"Of course, the traveler was fooled."

Raph closed his eyes and grumbled under his breath.

"First, he let the goblins eat one of his legs….then an arm…..then more and more…before it was over, all that the traveler had left was his head."

Even the toughest turtle of the bunch felt faintly sick.

"He'd even given his eyes away to the last of the goblins… and as the last goblin was eating the traveler's eyes, he turned and said,

"Thank you, traveler. In return, I leave you this present."

And he threw a scrap of paper by the man's head.

All it read was the kanjii of "Fool."

But the traveller couldn't see. Nevertheless, tears of joy came from his empty eyes and he proclaimed, "Arigatou! Arigatou! This is the first gift anyone's ever given ME.

Thank you.

Arigatou…."

And with that, the traveller died."

Splinter paused, and shot a symphatetic glance at a stricken Raphael.

"My son….I am sorry. My Master Yoshi once told me this tale." He chuckled ruefully, and drew the turtle closer.

"My reaction was the same, I assure you."

Raphael just shook his head, eyes running.

"But…I don't get it. How does that poor guy have anything ta do with me?"

The candle flickered nearby.

"Everything, my son. I do not believe for an instance that the Traveller was a fool."

Raph shot him an incredulous look, but Splinter went on.

"Leonardo is like that traveller-and just as intent as making the people near him happy. What is a posession compared to another's happiness? What is it to someone comparing some book he could probably recover somewhere else to his brother?"

Raph managed a shaky smile, and wiped his nose.

"Yeah, well w-what are ya gonna do? I'm hard not to like."

Splinter smiled, and pecked him affectionately on the head as the door slammed open. Raph blinked.

Leo looked in, slightly breathless.

"Ooh-sorry, Master-Raph-gotta-"

"TAG!"

And with that, Donny lightly tapped him on the shoulder, and ran away giggling.

"Hey!"

Leo wrenched around, eyes sparkling with laughter.

"No tag-backs, you...you..."

"Nah, nah, nah-nah, nah! Can't catch Me, Leo!"

Before rushing into the game himself, Raph shot Leo an affectionate glance as he streaked away from Mikey-who was now officially "it."

Looks like he had some coin scrounging to do.

For a birthday was coming up in a few months, and books weren't cheap.


End file.
